


The Valiant Ponds

by irishluff



Category: Doctor Who
Genre: (sort of), Character Study, Episode: s03e13 Last of the Time Lords, F/M, What if?, Year That Never Was
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-13
Updated: 2013-01-13
Packaged: 2017-11-25 07:29:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/636549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/irishluff/pseuds/irishluff
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Amy Pond, they say she's gonna save the world.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Valiant Ponds

_Citizens of Earth, rejoice and observe._

 

The doors opened to reveal a woman standing in front of two armed guards. At first glance, she looked confident, with stiff posture and eyes full of a burning fire that matches her mess of very orange hair. Amy Pond walked forward without any prompting from the guards, glancing around the room. It would take a keen observer to notice how badly her hands shook, or how she seemed to look anywhere but straight ahead, where the Master stood. It was fortunate she didn't have much of a family, really. She didn't have many people the Master could imprison. Her aunt Sharon stood on one side of the Valiant in a ridiculous maid's outfit. A tiny, shriveled version of the Doctor sat in, of all things, a bird cage. He was even sporting a miniature bow tie. It was a horrifying display, but she kept her show of stoicism as best she could.

She was fine until she spotted Rory. Though he was obviously putting on a brave face for her, he'd suffered over the course of the year. He stood straight at attention, head down, like everyone else, but his face and arms were decorated with bruises, scars, and general filth. The circles under his eyes made her wonder if he'd gotten any proper rest since she left. Probably not. As if he could feel her eyes on his, he looked up when she spotted, and for the briefest of seconds, they locked eyes. Though tired, his eyes were full of concern and love, with a tragic undertone of pain. Amy froze for the briefest section, but was quickly brought out of her Rory- induced trance by a  jab on the back from the guard. "I'm going, " she snapped, earning a second, harder jab. _Not yet,_ she reminded herself. _First save him, then you can fix him._

Finally, they stopped her when she reached the feet of the Master. Now, she stared straight up at him, a hard, icy glare, laced with hate. The Master responded with a fake, exaggerated pout. "Come on now, Pond, don't be like that. Frowning doesn't suit such a pretty face." Her skin prickled, hearing him talk about her like that. She bit her tongue to keep herself from saying something that get her- or any other the other people stuck on this ship- killed. He looked at her expectantly, as if he thought she'd actually smile for him. When she did nothing, he gave her an annoyed look and continued speaking. "Your teleport device. In case you thought I'd forgotten," he demanded. Amy, still scowling at him, tossed the vortex manipulator his way. He caught it easily and pocketed it. "And now," he said with an infuriating smirk, "kneel _._ "

At this point, it was hard to tell if she was shaking from rage or fear, but she didn't move. "No," she said. Though she intended it to be strong and defiant, the word was barely audible. She knew she was going to win in the end, but that didn't mean she wanted to give in to this, let herself be demeaned, give him the satisfaction. Until, of course, he pointed the laser screwdriver in the general direction of Rory and fired, missing his head by a terrifyingly narrow margin (and only because he ducked). "Sorry, what was that?" he asked, cocking his head towards her. Her scowl grew as she got down on her knees before him. He smiled. "That's better."

The Master continued talking, telling her his plan, but all Amy could hear was the pounding of blood in her ears. The Doctor watched from his birdcage, comically large eyes unreadable. Finally, he got back to the bit about killing her. She bowed her head as instructed, for once in her life remaining silent despite his asking for last words, and swallowed, steeling herself for what she was about to do. _Showtime_. She looked up suddenly, now smiling, wearing the expression of someone who knows they've won.

"Do you even hear yourself right now?" she asked. His face dropped into confusion.

"What?" he spat.

A fresh wave of confidence flowing through her veins, she continued.  "You keep yammering on about your little plan, did it even occur to you that you might be wrong?" At that point, she actually laughed. "A gun, in four parts, scattered across the globe." She stood up and waved her fingers for effect. "Some mystical weapon that kills a Time Lord, and I've been going on this big quest to find it."

"Yes, and...?" he asked, too confused to force her back into her kneeling position.

"Doesn't that seem a bit too..." she paused and searched for the word, smirking when it came to her, "fairytale?"

"And you bought into it," said the Doctor, voice weak and gravely yet full of conviction.

The Master's features flashed with rage, before twisting into a manic smile. "So what? I've got you exactly where I want you. Fairytale or not, Pond, today is the day you die." He held the laser in front of her, ready to fire a lethal shot.

Amy just shrugged. "Fine. Do it," she dared. Her eyes twinkled with confidence, gained from standing up to him and faith in the Doctor's plan. "I still win."

"No you don't!" he raged. "This is my victory! I've got everything exactly where I want it!"

She just laughed. "How blind are you? Are you gonna ask what I was _actually_ doing for a year, or are you just gonna shoot me?" she challenged.

He crossed his arms and leaned back. "Fine. I'll humor you. Tell me, Amelia Pond, what were you doing on Earth?" he asked, making a show of how bored he was. "And then, you die."

"Told a story, that's all. About my imaginary friend, the raggedy man in the big blue box. How he saves the universe all the time, and we never even notice. All the wonderful things he's done for the earth, I told everyone I could find, and I had them pass it on."

The Master's mouth twitched into a smirk. "And do you actually expect that to accomplish anything?"

"Yeah, actually, I do," she continued. "Because I didn't just tell them about him. I gave an instruction. Nothing big. Just… at the end of the countdown, think his name. Nothing big at all…"

"No, it's not! This won't do anything!" he shouted, smirk broadened into a grin. "Oh, I've really won this time."

"…not big, until it's everyone on the planet. At the same time. Hooked up to, I don't know," she looked up at him, smiling, ready to deliver the final blow to their verbal battle, "fifteen satellites?"

The Master's face fell when he realized.

Rory came up behind Amy. "The Archangel Network," he said. Despite his battered body, his voice was firm.

"Everyone, everyone on earth thinking the same word, bound together with the satellites _you_ built, thinking one thing at the same time: Doctor."

 

Despite the Master's increasing panic, the Doctor began to glow and rise out of his birdcage, surrounded by the brilliant light of of humanity's hope. (Meanwhile, the Ponds were too busy checking to see if the inside of each other's mouth had changed over the course of the year to care much.)

"No, no you can't do this, it's not fair!" shouted the Master, to which the Doctor just scoffed.

"Who said anything about _fair_? This entire year, when has anything ever been fair?! You don't get fair, we're past that point." And so the Doctor kept moving forward, face stony as he ignored the others pleas.

However, when the Doctor was restored to his full height, the shots from the Master's screwdriver firing off fruitless shots, even the Ponds had to pay attention as they held each other, not even sure what they were afraid of anymore but afraid all the same.

It wasn't until the other Time Lord pulled out Amy's vortex manipulator that the Doctor had to take a break from standing and looking impressive to run after him (while yelling a rather unpersuasive "No no no!") and grab him before he could zip off somewhere and need to be hunted down again. The Doctor grabbed the Master's wrist just in time for him to hit a button on the vortex manipulator and transport them both down to earth.

"Now it ends, Doctor!" shouted the Master dramatically, holding out his arms as if taking in the scene of the English landscape, ruined by rockets as far as the eye could see.

"No! You're finished, we've got the Valiant! It's done, Master! You've lost," said the Doctor emphatically.

"Not yet I haven't," the Master insisted, pulling a device out of his front pocket. "Black hole converter, inside every ship. Just the press of a button. If this world isn't going to be mine, it's not yours either. If I can't have it, I'll destroy it. We shall stand upon this earth, together, as it burns." He spoke with the smile of a man that thinks he's won, but the Doctor just shook his head.

"All these weapons! How many do you have in there, when does it end? The toclafane, the screwdriver, the Lazarus technology, now this? Just give it a rest already!"

"And why would I do that?" the Master sneered.

"Because that one, right there," responded the Doctor, pointing to the black whole converter, "That'll kill you. You use it, the planet dies, I die… but so do you. And that's why you are never gonna use it." He shook his head again, features bordering on disgust but not quite reaching it, and held out his hand. "Just give it it me."

A brief, but intense battle raged behind the Master's eyes, but in the end, the Doctor was right, and he knew it. He dropped the black hole converter into the Doctor's hand, expression a mix of malice and defeat.

They transported back to the Valiant in time to be greeted with violent shaking, wind and papers flying everywhere. When Amy fell into his arms, he gave her a squeeze and a quick, excited kiss on the forehead. "Oh, you brilliant Pond, you've done it!" he said to her. "Time is reversing!" he called to the rest of the ship. "Get down!" And despite the sadness of the year, when the Doctor let out an enthusiastic whoop, the rest of the ship couldn't help but feel a twinge of excitement. His cheerfulness was contagious, and besides, despite everything, they'd _won._

Far below them, the horrors of the Year were erased, but on the Valiant, it just seemed like a violent windstorm. Everything that had happened stayed firmly in the minds of everyone onboard, despite some of them wanting those memories gone more than anything.

Finally, when it died down, the Doctor hopped up. "It's all fixed! Everything, the whole year, it's gone!" he cried, grinning like a madman. He turned on the radio, where UNIT was asking about the assassination of the president. "Well, the American president's still dead… But the toclafane aren't here yet! None of this is ever going to happen!"

"But Doctor, what about the toclafane? What happened to them?" asked Amy.

"They're just gone! Back at the end of the universe, never to return." He grabbed Amy (and Rory, who was still next to her) and pulled them into another bone-crushing hug. "We're all okay."

When it finished, Amy looked at the Doctor, confused. "But… if none of it happened, why do I still remember it?"

"We were right at the center of the paradox, the eye of the storm. The only ones that'll ever know what happened are standing right here," he explained.

It was then that he noticed an older man standing behind his companion, and his face brightened again. He pushed past her and shook the man's hand. "Hello, you must be Mr. Pond! Good to finally meet you!"

"I'm… not a Pond…" he responded, slightly overwhelmed at the Doctor suddenly going from a frail, shriveled creature to a young man with the enthusiasm of a toddler that had eaten one pixie sticks.

"Are you sure?" he asked, head cocked to one side. Brian appeared to be seriously considering the question.

Taking advantage of the confusion, the Master tried to run, only to be caught by Rory, who was returning from destroying the paradox. "You're not going anywhere," he said, keeping a firm grip on his arm and pulling him back into the room. "Can I get some handcuffs?" he asked, looking around. One of the soldiers quickly came and restrained the Master. "So… what now?" he asked.

"Kill him," responded Amy, nearly immediately. "Yeah, you can save the world without killing him, but I don't want to anymore," she continued, looking over at Rory.

"Amy!" cried the Doctor, sounding offended that his companion would think of the idea. "No, no no! That's what _he_ does, we're better than that. Hasn't there been enough killing?" He approached the Master, expression dark. "Besides, it wouldn't work. It might take centuries, but he'd be back with more weapons and more plans and more destruction."

"Doctor, can I…?" Rory asked, not really wanting to be in the middle of two dangerous Time Lords with very good reason to be cross.

The Doctor nodded and Rory rushed to join Amy and his father. Amy clasped her hand in his and they both watched the Doctor.

"So," said the Doctor, taking more steps towards him. "What _do_ I do?"

The Master simply glared back.

"See, no more Time Lords, you're my responsibility now. You're staying with me," he said after a long moment of thought.

"You can't possibly mean-! But Doctor, you know you can't trust him," exclaimed Amy.

"No, are you mad, of course not! I'm keeping him where I can keep an eye on him, so he can't hurt anyone else. It's the only safe thing," he said, tone firm. There was no room for negotiation.

"So you're just gonna… keep me?" asked the Master, trying very hard to not sound as defeated as he knew he was.

"What else am I supposed to do?" said the Doctor, throwing his hands out. He waited a moment, as if waiting for someone to answer, though everyone knew his mind was made up. When the moment passed, he turned around to rejoin his companions.

It was then that the shot rang out.

The Doctor whirled around to see the Master stumble back and fall, pristine white shirt staining red. His eyes went wide as he looked for a culprit, then brimmed with rage when they rested on Lucy Saxon, holding a gun. "I thought I said nobody else dies! Didn't I?!"

Lucy, if it were possible, just looked sadder.

The Doctor took a step toward her, but Rory moved in between them, holding his hand out as if attempting to calm a wild animal. "Doctor. No," he said softly, shaking his head.

At that, the Doctor's rage drained into desperation, turning back to the Master and rushing to take him in his arms. "Look at this, dying in your arms. Isn't this just _touching_ ," he sneered.

"What are you talking about? You're not dying, it's just a bullet! That's embarrassing!" When the Master just grinned, the Doctor's panic increased. "Stop it, stop dying right this instant!"

"What else am I supposed to do?" echoed the Master.

"Regenerate! That's how it works!"

"No," said the Master. "And spend the rest of my life with you?" He shook his head. "No."

The Doctor held him for a few more moments, shaking with anger, hurt, and desperation, before dropping him roughly on the ground. "He's gone," he said simply. He looked over at Amy and Rory. "Come on. Let's find my TARDIS."

And with that, he left the room with his companions following, just wanting this whole episode over with already.

**Author's Note:**

> If there's interest, I'd love to write more in this verse. If there's somewhere in the YTNW you'd like to see me stick the Ponds and/or Eleven, please comment!


End file.
